Zhenjin's entourage was large. He always traveled with his Khesh. Kheshtar Yang, who dressed him and tested all his food to make sure the Khazan was not poisoned, was part of it. The Kheshtar also served as his secretary and accountant. The Kheshge, on the other hand, served as his majordomo and estate manager. A noble Khan at birth receives a Kheshtar and a Kheshge, persons normally much older than the infant. But when a Khan forms his own Khesh, he might dismiss his Kheshtar and Kheshge. Only when a Khagan—a warrior—can declare his Kheshig (advisers) is he ready to be a Khazan, the crown prince.

  Prince Rajiv of Chola brought along his burdensome uncles: Patali, Parantaka, and Somesh, and his wife, Pereri, who all raised a ruckus when they realized the original plan was to leave them behind. Unlike all other vassal-heirs, Rajiv came to the Sung court as an adult. He had escaped his Tamil cousins and found refuge at the Sung court.

  "My uncles are afraid for my life," Rajiv said.

  "Why do they not trust us?" asked Huaizong.

  "They trust you, my prince, and the company you keep, and of course the other vassal-heirs, but they are afraid there will be danger on the road," Rajiv directed his answers to Zhenjin.

  "I pity the hooligans who will try to attack us on the road," replied Huaizong. "Do they bear arms?"

  "They will protect me with their lives," said Rajiv.

  "I've not seen any of them wield a sword or spear," rebutted Huaizong.

  "They would enjoy the trip, and it would help them understand the Khanate more. Such knowledge would aid us in the planning to retake my kingdom," said Rajiv insincerely.

  "Let the three uncles come, Tan Po. They're aging," said Zhenjin.

  "Yes, Zhenjin," replied Tan Po

  "And my Aunt Pereri," added Rajiv.

  "No. You yourself said it is dangerous on the road," said Huaizong.

  "I can't leave her—the sole woman of my party—who out of loyalty has accompanied me here to Xanadu seeking my protection, alone here at Xanadu."

  "Do you not trust in the Khan's protection?" asked Huaizong.

  "She will be lonely without Uncle Somesh. She will be miserable without him."

  "Let Somesh take his wife, Tan Po”

  "Yes, My Prince." Replies the dutiful monk.

  "I'd like to take my Advocate and my Adviser along too," Rajiv requested.

  "Why?" implored Huaizong.

  "Because they can advise me," Rajiv reasoned.

  "Your three uncles can advise you," said Huaizong.

  "But they don't know the law," Rajiv rebutted.

  "You won't need the law. Especially not the law of Sindhu," answered Huaizong.

  "But..."

  "No," said Zhenjin, "and that's final. You will not need them."

  Rajiv knew when to stop. Only when Zhenjin put his foot down did the uncles agree to leave the Advocate Chambian and Adviser Lumaya behind.

  "You sure you don't need to bring your Kheshtar and Kheshge?" Zhenjin asked Mahintha.

  "Since I was a young boy, I have always dressed myself. I'll be fine. My Khesh—my household—is more useful to me here in DaDu, where they can keep shop and watch my profits while I have a little fun on the road. I don't need a food tester or a cupbearer. I'll eat what you eat and pour my own wine. You'll die first. No one wants to poison me. I don't have a kingdom to claim."

  "You do," insisted Huaizong.

  "I no longer want it. I want to be a freeman and continue brewing my own beer and aging my wine, living my life unencumbered by a desire for power or responsibility to an abstract called 'my people.' Furthermore, I am Kharak. I travel light. I never burden my horse unnecessarily."

  "Just don't tell Kublai Khan," advised Zhenjin. "He is waiting for you to claim Lan. He is depending on you to reconquer Lan and control it. If he finds out that you are not on board with his plans for the reconquest of Lan, he will have you executed."

  Both Zhenjin and Huaizong smiled sarcastically to one another and snickered. Huaizong, a ladies' man, was always so cynical, and Zhenjin had too dry a sense of humor.

  "I will not give my life to such an enterprise. I'm sure the Khan will understand. I will give him money for his army, but not my life. Not my precious time."

  "Huaizong?" Zhenjin asked. "Do you have an entourage?"

  "A free life for me, my brother. When we are on the road, a butler is excess baggage. I travel light. Just me and my trusty steed!"

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  "Tan Po?" Zhenjin's roll call continued.

  "The trappings of status... those are attachments that weigh one down," replied the monk.

  Cheongsun of Goryeo, because he was a royal vassal-heir, brought along from Goryeo his own Kheshtar, Chang, whom his father had assigned to him at birth. Cheongsun was a Khan. But despite the royal Xinese exterior, the vassals were Kharak warriors. They traveled light.

  Urduja of Tawalesi, being the sole female vassal-heir traveling, pleaded to bring her handmaidens along. Zhenjin, personally fond of Urduja, agreed. Zhenjin asked Uddiawan to come along to serve as cook for the whole group and as a nurse as well.

  "Sure, little one, bring your playmates and ask your crone along to cook for us," said Zhenjin. "We will hire a few assistants to help her."

  "You like her," said Huaizong.

  "It is the first time we ever received a female vassal-heir."

  "You spoil her," Huaizong said.

  "She is my favorite," Zhenjin admitted.

  "She has an open-hand fighting style like Khatun Ulaan," observed Mahintha.

  "And she is more beautiful every day," Huaizong oozed.

  "Huaizong, make sure Cheongsun and Urduja and her handmaidens are armed," said Zhenjin.

  "They are not yet ready," cautioned Kheshtar Yang.

  "We are on the road. Now is the best time for them to acquire arms. They have been training," Zhenjin asserted.

  "Yes, Khazan," said Huaizong proudly, as the older vassals trained the younger ones. The Tawalesi, including Crone Uddiawan, had proven themselves.

  The four princes continued planning:

  "Take Dusshela along," Zhenjin ordered. "And Lady Sumita. You can't take one without the other."

  "We will need to ask the Khan and request permission from the Harem," Kheshtar Yang reminded him.

  "She does as she wants. Tell them she spends a night with me," said Zhenjin.

  "She's a widow. And she could be pregnant with any of those five husbands. Will she agree?" asked Kheshtar Yang.

  "They're all dead. Who inherited the land and wealth of five princes with separate kingdoms behind them?" Huaizong mused.

  "She understands what we are up against," Mahintha said.

  "And those ten elephants free in paradesh where they can eat a forest in a few days? Well, they belong to Dusshela. And those ten ships on Bohai Bay loaded with treasure? They're hers too," accounted Huaizong.

  "Just give her a reason to get out—she'll bribe, charm, or whatever her way through," Zhenjin stated.

  "She's a woman of great means. Did you see her tame her steppe horse? She's an expert. I pitied the boat people, the Tawalesi and Khagan Cheongsun. You could see the panic on their faces in the tundra," Mahintha chuckled.

  "She's been through a war," Tan Po noted.

  "If they think she is in my bedchamber, we will have time to discuss plans," Zhenjin said.

  "Or have an orgy. She's gorgeous," Huaizong sighed, his mind always on money and sex. "And Lady Sumita has a beautiful body! She ain't bad!"

  "When will you be serious?" Zhenjin asked.

  "If I became serious, you'd make me Khan, and I'd be miserable," mumbled Huaizong.

  "Am I so obvious?" said Zhenjin.

  "How do you think she made five virile men—kings by anyone's reckoning—happy?" Huaizong asked. "Some kind of special sexual acrobatics. Kama Sutra on steroids. Make me a happy husband."

  "But you're only happy in a bar," said Mahintha.

  "Can't help myself," Huaizong corroborated.

  "You told me it's a shared responsibility," Zhenjin reminded him.

  "You believe everything I tell you?" Huaizong asked, eyebrows raised.

  "I told you not to trust him," repeated Mahintha.

  "Only when he is drunk," Tan Po said.

  Zhenjin decided to take a hundred palace guards to guard the Empress Chabi. Every man and woman on the road was armed.

  At the Main Hall

  At the dinner table, Kublai, Empress Chabi, and Prince Zhenjin sat at the King's table. The court was having a farewell dinner for the Khan as he departed for his brother Ariq’s Khuriltai.

  There was dinner, and after dinner, there were performances and music.

  "Zhenjin, wait for me at Karakhorin," said Kublai, seated on the throne. "I will fast and pray with my brothers at the Barren Hills for seven days. Ariq thinks that if he holds a Khuriltai like father did, he can control me. Muddle-head!"

  "They are mistaken, father. We control the grain, the silk, the tea, and the metal trade."

  "I have my own horses; I have a Goryeon navy. I have the best designers and inventors. They can never design like the Sung."

  "Yes, father."

  "I will take my Kheshig with me. I will leave the entire palace guard here with Master Tenger. Take the palace guard you need to accompany Chabi and your younger brothers to Karakhorin. You will travel west with your mother. After the Khuriltai, I will proceed to Shangri-La with Chabi. You are taking the vassal-heirs to Iran?"

  "Yes, father. It is time they see the empire."

  "I hear you're taking Dusshela with you? You fancy her? She's very rich. And Lady Sumita is unmarried."

  "Yes, father, I fancy her and she's very rich. And you are the first not to mention her five husbands," Zhenjin repeated tediously.

  "A man desires a woman. You may not have to marry her, considering her circumstances. The Lady Sumita is wealthy too, and younger. You are bringing that stupid Rajiv with you?" Kublai asked, without noticing the dismay in Zhenjin's voice.

  "Yes, father," Zhenjin stressed heavily. "And his uncles."

  "Maybe we should turn him over to his Tamil cousins?" Kublai chuckled at his own cruel joke.

  "He is still the true King of Chola, father. He has a heavenly mandate. The kind of mandate you want. A heavenly mandate."

  "Dusshela has a better heavenly mandate than Rajiv, if you know what I mean. Anyway, I am Khan. I don't need a heavenly mandate. I take," Kublai stated firmly.

  "Father, if we are to rule Xina, we need a heavenly mandate. You know more than anyone that one can't just 'take' Xina."

  "I know... I know. But how does one acquire that heavenly mandate? You need Tenger on your side. At first, I just thought I'll kill him if he doesn't do as I say... but without him, I never would have been Emperor. There are no people like the Xinese. No people with so long a history. No people we know as inventive and as organized. They have a centralized form of government. Their government is their religion. One can't change the government without disrupting the grain production, and if that happens... well, we won't eat. Tenger tells me the empire unites, divides, and unites again. A cold, beautiful logic you can't deny. I have no heavenly mandate, but it doesn't matter. The empire will go on without me, but right now I wish to fill this empty void."

  "Father, you have said yourself that 'command' is different from 'govern.' If you have command, you can conquer. But to govern, you need a heavenly mandate."

  "My wise and handsome son. I could never explain that difference to my brothers. But with you, I have a complete understanding. You think you can tell that to my brothers? They're always snickering about my harem and my bathtub. Rajiv tires me. Ariq tires me. This bloody boring Khuriltai. Ariq bores me with his demands. His mother spoiled him... I will meet you back here, when you return from Quorasan. I'll be back before autumn."

  "And the heirs and I will be back before the winter," Zhenjin said.

  The next day, Kublai's horsed Kheshig rode like the wind for Karakhorin.

  The day after Kublai's departure, Zhenjin's caravan started their slow journey for the ancient capital. Empress Chabi and her entourage, sixty caravans loaded with goods, and more than a hundred horsed riders started their slow journey to Karakhorin.